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	<title>The Economic Collapse &#187; Movies</title>
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		<title>10 Disturbing Tales From The Side Streets And Dark Alleys Of America</title>
		<link>http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/10-disturbing-tales-from-the-side-streets-and-dark-alleys-of-america</link>
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		<pubDate>Tue, 18 Jun 2013 23:10:58 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Michael Snyder]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Societal Collapse]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[America]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Americans]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Cancer]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Cancer Is Spreading]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Cold Hearts]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Depravity]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Economic Decline]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[Hearts Grow Cold]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Horrible]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Like Cancer]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Michael T. Snyder]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Movies]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Social Decay]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Tales]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[Twisted Story]]></category>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/?p=5867</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[<p>Every night Americans prove that they are willing to do absolutely horrible things to their fellow human beings.  Most of the time, we never even hear about the sick and twisted things that happen on the side streets and dark alleys of America.  Once in a while a particularly twisted story will get picked up [...]</p>
<p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/10-disturbing-tales-from-the-side-streets-and-dark-alleys-of-america">10 Disturbing Tales From The Side Streets And Dark Alleys Of America</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com">The Economic Collapse</a>.</p>
]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/10-disturbing-tales-from-the-side-streets-and-dark-alleys-of-america/dark-alley-photo-by-joe-mabel" rel="attachment wp-att-5870"><img class="alignleft size-thumbnail wp-image-5870" alt="Dark Alley - Photo by Joe Mabel" src="http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Dark-Alley-Photo-by-Joe-Mabel-300x300.jpg" width="300" height="300" /></a>Every night Americans prove that they are willing to do absolutely horrible things to their fellow human beings.  Most of the time, we never even hear about the sick and twisted things that happen on the side streets and dark alleys of America.  Once in a while a particularly twisted story will get picked up by the news, but usually most Americans are pretty much able to isolate themselves from the depravity that is happening all around them.  Unfortunately, the social decay that is eating away at our society like cancer is spreading.  It is getting harder and harder for average Americans to keep the darkness at bay.  When it suddenly reaches out and touches your family, it can be absolutely shocking.  America is not the kind, loving and gentle place that is portrayed in our movies and on our television shows.  The sad truth is that America is becoming colder and meaner with each passing day.  Yes, there are definitely some Americans that are kind and compassionate, but they are in the minority.  As our <a href="http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/40-statistics-about-the-fall-of-the-u-s-economy-that-are-almost-too-crazy-to-believe">economic decline</a> becomes even more severe, the hearts of even more Americans are going to grow cold.  And people with cold hearts can do some absolutely terrible things.  The following are 10 disturbing tales from the side streets and dark alleys of America&#8230;</p>
<p><strong>#1</strong> <a href="http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/06/17/19008092-florida-man-beaten-robbed-stripped-naked-on-first-date?lite">Beaten, Robbed And Left Naked In A Cow Pasture In Florida</a></p>
<blockquote><p>A Florida man says that a first dated ended with him being beaten, forced to strip at gun point, robbed and then left in a cow pasture.</p>
<p>A Flagler County Sheriff’s Office case report <a href="http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/06/17/19008092-florida-man-beaten-robbed-stripped-naked-on-first-date?lite">obtained by NBC News</a> indicated that 34-year-old Shaun Paul Williams was found naked and bloodied on State Road 100 in Bunnell. Williams told deputies that he had <a href="http://flaglerlive.com/55522/shaun-williams-robbery/">met a woman</a> named “Tree” about two weeks ago in Dayton and agreed to go out on June 14.</p>
<p>When the woman picked him up on Friday, he discovered that two other men we also inside the vehicle. The woman explained that one of the men was her brother. She said that she needed to drop the men off at the brother’s home.</p>
<p>But instead of going to a home, the brother instructed the woman to stop at an “empty cow pasture.” Williams said that he exited the vehicle to urinate and was struck in the head with a “hard metal object.”</p>
<p>“Give me all your money and your clothes,” one of the men told him.</p></blockquote>
<p><strong>#2</strong> <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/17/wendys-customer-video_n_3455092.html">Wendy&#8217;s Customer Totally Loses It When They Put Cheese On His Hamburger</a></p>
<p>In recent months there have been a lot of videos posted on YouTube of crazed people yelling wildly at employees of various fast food chains.  The most recent example of this phenomenon to go viral is a video of a middle-aged man totally losing it after he discovered that Wendy&#8217;s employees had put cheese on his hamburger.  You can watch the video <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&amp;v=AXynTPirbws">here</a>, but please be aware that it contains quite a bit of profanity and it is not appropriate for children to watch.  This is yet another example of how seemingly average people in America are becoming consumed with anger and frustration.</p>
<p><strong>#3</strong> <a href="http://boston.cbslocal.com/2013/06/12/mbta-police-trio-of-women-threw-bleach-robbed-man-on-t/">Women Throwing Bleach Into The Eyes Of A Man On A City Bus In Boston </a></p>
<blockquote><p>MBTA Police are searching for three young women who they say threw bleach in the eyes of a bus passenger after robbing him of his money.</p>
<p>The victim was returning home from work early Sunday morning, riding the #28 bus on Blue Hill Avenue through Roxbury, when it seems the trio sized him up.</p>
<p>Officials say one female slapped the man about the head, while one went to work to search him for money.</p>
<p>“One of the women puts her knee on top of his legs so he can’t get up and takes the money from his pockets,” MBTA Superintendent-in Chief Joseph O’Connor told WBZ-TV.</p></blockquote>
<p><strong>#4</strong> <a href="http://stlouis.cbslocal.com/2013/06/14/dangerous-dogs-on-the-loose-in-north-st-louis-county/">The Wild Dogs Of St. Louis</a></p>
<blockquote><p>Dangerous dogs are becoming more of a problem in parts of north St. Louis County.</p>
<p>It’s so bad, some people say they’re afraid to go out for a morning jog.</p>
<p>Resident Carolyn Immer says she was attacked and now has a hole in her leg.</p>
<p>“I felt like I was out in the middle of nowhere and there was nobody around to help,” Immer says. “I was screaming for a long time – it seemed like a long time lets put it that way.”</p></blockquote>
<p><strong>#5</strong> <a href="http://www.godlikeproductions.com/forum1/message2238426/pg1">Homeless In Dallas</a></p>
<blockquote><p>So as of today I am officially homeless.</p>
<p>I won&#8217;t bore you all with long sob stories.</p>
<p>About a year ago lost my job of twelve years, couldn&#8217;t find new work, made some bad financial choices, and today I sit in the public library on my old laptop typing away as all my posessions lay in three small suitcases very close to where I am sitting.</p>
<p>I think this might possibly be the worst place to be homless, given the horrible heat.</p>
<p>So I have seventy-five cents to my name, am not sure where I&#8217;ll be putting my head down to sleep tonight, and was wondering if anyone else out there has been in a similar prediciment.</p></blockquote>
<p><strong>#6</strong> <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2183000/Vacant-Detroit-turning-dumping-ground-dead-police-average-body-month-city.html">Detroit &#8211; Dumping Ground For The Dead</a></p>
<blockquote><p>From the street, the two decomposing bodies were nearly invisible, concealed in an overgrown lot alongside worn-out car tires and a mouldy sofa. The teenagers had been shot, stripped to their underwear and left on a deserted block.</p>
<p>They were just the latest victims of foul play whose remains went undiscovered for days after being hidden deep inside Detroit&#8217;s vast urban wilderness — a crumbling wasteland rarely visited by outsiders and infrequently patrolled by police.</p>
<p>Abandoned and neglected parts of the city are quickly becoming dumping grounds for the dead — at least a dozen bodies in the space of 12 months. And authorities acknowledge there is little they can do.</p></blockquote>
<p><strong>#7</strong> <a href="http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2013/06/17/man-dies-after-his-head-is-impaled-on-fence-during-fight/">Impaled On A Wrought Iron Fence In Chicago</a></p>
<blockquote><p>A man was murdered Sunday night by someone who struck him in the head, causing him to become impaled on a wrought iron fence in the South Side Burnside neighborhood.</p>
<p>The 48-year-old victim was involved in a dispute with unknown individuals near his home in the 9100 block of South Greenwood Avenue about 8 p.m. Sunday when a male struck him in the head, police said.</p>
<p>The victim’s head was then impaled by a wrought iron fence near the eye, police said. He then fell to the ground and struck his head again.</p></blockquote>
<p><strong>#8</strong> <a href="http://miami.cbslocal.com/2013/06/06/exclusive-n-miami-crime-trend-sees-robbery-victims-locked-in-own-trunks/">Robbery Victims Locked In The Trunks Of Their Own Vehicles In North Miami</a></p>
<blockquote><p>CBS4 has learned of a horrible crime that has happened four times in the past two months in the city of North Miami. Gunmen have been forcing robbery victims in to the trunks of their cars while trying to get cash.</p>
<p>North Miami Police Major Neal Cuevas says he is worried about “copycat criminals” who may one day take a life.</p>
<p>One victim is speaking out exclusively to CBS4’s Peter D’Oench after being driven around in the trunk of his Mercedes Benz for two hours on Wednesday night. He was abducted at 8 p.m. while leaving his job and was finally rescued by police at 10 p.m. after discovering he had a cell phone in his trunk and after calling 911.</p></blockquote>
<p><strong>#9</strong> <a href="http://www.oregonlive.com/sherwood/index.ssf/2013/06/sherwood_high_school_teacher_d.html">Female Teacher Has Sex With Three Students In Oregon</a></p>
<blockquote><p>A Sherwood High School teacher has been arrested and faces sexual abuse charges, stemming from accusations of sexual contact with at least three students.</p>
<p>A grand jury indicted Denise Keesee, 38, Monday on six counts of second-degree sexual abuse, according to the Washington County Sheriff&#8217;s office. Keesee turned herself in this evening, said Sgt. David Thompson, a sheriff&#8217;s office spokesman.</p></blockquote>
<p><strong>#10</strong> <a href="http://www.wtsp.com/news/watercooler/article/320703/58/Mom-Officer-shot-kittens-in-front-of-my-kids">A Police Officer That Shot Five Kittens While Children Were Watching</a></p>
<blockquote><p>The Ohio Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals wants Humane Officer Barry Accorti fired for allegedly shooting five kittens in a home&#8217;s back yard on Monday.</p></blockquote>
<p style="text-align: center;">&#8212;&#8211;</p>
<blockquote><p>Accorti responded to a home Monday afternoon where a feral mother cat and her five kittens were living in a woodpile.</p>
<p>He allegedly told the homeowner that shelters were full and that the cats would be going to kitty heaven. He then pulled out his gun and shot the five, 8- to 10-week-old kittens.</p>
<p>Accorti allegedly told the homeowner that he isn&#8217;t supposed to do this, but it was justifiable. The woman ran into the house to shield her children, who were screaming and crying.</p></blockquote>
<p>So what do you think about these stories?</p>
<p>Do you have any tales like this to share?</p>
<p>Please feel free to share your thoughts by posting a comment below&#8230;</p>
<p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/10-disturbing-tales-from-the-side-streets-and-dark-alleys-of-america">10 Disturbing Tales From The Side Streets And Dark Alleys Of America</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com">The Economic Collapse</a>.</p>
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		<title>7 Things About The Mainstream Media That They Do Not Want You To Know</title>
		<link>http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/7-things-about-the-mainstream-media-that-they-do-not-want-you-to-know</link>
		<comments>http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/7-things-about-the-mainstream-media-that-they-do-not-want-you-to-know#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 20 May 2013 20:48:25 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Michael Snyder]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[America]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Average American]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Beliefs]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Books]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Internet]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mainstream Media]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Media]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Media Conglomerates]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Movies]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Music]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Television]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Video Games]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/?p=5679</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[<p>Have you ever wondered who controls the mainstream media?  In America today, we are more &#8220;connected&#8221; than ever.  The average American watches 153 hours of television a month, and we also spend countless hours watching movies, playing video games, listening to music, reading books and surfing the Internet.  If someone could control the production of [...]</p>
<p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/7-things-about-the-mainstream-media-that-they-do-not-want-you-to-know">7 Things About The Mainstream Media That They Do Not Want You To Know</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com">The Economic Collapse</a>.</p>
]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00CNKRHRE/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=B00CNKRHRE&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=theeconomiccollapse-20"><img class="alignleft size-thumbnail wp-image-5682" alt="7 Things About The Mainstream Media That They Do Not Want You To Know - Based On A Photo By Doug Waldron" src="http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/7-Things-About-The-Mainstream-Media-That-They-Do-Not-Want-You-To-Know-Based-On-A-Photo-By-Doug-Waldron1-300x300.jpg" width="300" height="300" /></a>Have you ever wondered who controls the mainstream media?  In America today, we are more &#8220;connected&#8221; than ever.  The average American watches 153 hours of television a month, and we also spend countless hours watching movies, playing video games, listening to music, reading books and surfing the Internet.  If someone could control the production of all of that media, that would make them immensely powerful.  They would literally be in a position to tell people what to think.  Well, what if I told you that there are just six enormous media conglomerates that combine to produce about 90 percent of all the media that Americans consume.  Would that alarm you?  It should alarm you.  The truth is that our attitudes, opinions and beliefs are greatly shaped by what we allow into our minds.  After all, they don&#8217;t call it &#8220;programming&#8221; for no reason.  Even those of us that realize that we are connected to &#8220;the matrix&#8221; probably greatly underestimate the tremendous influence that the media has over us.  We live at a time when it is absolutely imperative to think for ourselves, but most Americans are being absolutely overwhelmed with information and seem more than content to let others do their thinking for them.  Sadly, this is greatly contributing to the downfall of our society.</p>
<p>And of course the mainstream media desperately does not want you to look at &#8220;the man behind the curtain&#8221;.  They just want you to stay plugged into the &#8220;programming&#8221; that they are feeding you without asking any questions.</p>
<p>Fortunately, a growing minority of Americans are waking up and are starting to reject the mainstream media.  An increasing number of people are beginning to recognize that the mainstream media is the mouthpiece of the establishment and that it is promoting the agenda of the establishment.</p>
<p>So why is the mainstream media so bad?  The following are 7 things about the mainstream media that they do not want you to know&#8230;</p>
<p><strong>#1 The Mainstream Media Has Very Deep Ties To The Establishment</strong></p>
<p>Did you know that the president of CBS and the president of ABC <a href="http://www.economicpolicyjournal.com/2013/05/imagine-my-surprise.html">both have brothers</a> that are top officials in the Obama administration?</p>
<p>The big news networks have developed an almost incestuous relationship with the federal government in recent years.  But of course the same could be said of the relationship that the media has with the big corporations that own stock in their parent companies and that advertise on their networks.</p>
<p>This is one of the reasons why we very rarely ever see any hard hitting stories on the big networks anymore.  The flow of information through the corporate-dominated media is very tightly controlled, and there are a lot of gatekeepers that make sure that the &#8220;wrong stories&#8221; don&#8217;t get put out to the public.  As a result, many of the &#8220;big stories&#8221; that have come out in recent years were originally broken by the alternative media.</p>
<p><strong>#2 The Mainstream Media Gets Things Wrong Very Frequently</strong></p>
<p>Even prominent members of the mainstream media admit that this is the case.  For example, during a recent speech at Quinnipiac University CBS anchor Scott Pelley confessed that journalists in the mainstream media &#8220;<a href="http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/cbs-anchor-we-are-getting-big-stories-wrong-over-and-over-again_722331.html">are getting big stories wrong, over and over again&#8221;</a>&#8230;</p>
<blockquote><p>&#8220;Let me take the first arrow: During our coverage of Newtown, I sat on my set and I reported that Nancy Lanza was a teacher at the school. And that her son had attacked her classroom. It&#8217;s a hell of a story, but it was dead wrong. Now, I was the managing editor, I made the decision to go ahead with that and I did, and that&#8217;s what I said, and I was absolutely wrong. So let me just take the first arrow here.&#8221;</p></blockquote>
<p><strong>#3 The American Public Does Not Consider The Media To Be Very Trustworthy</strong></p>
<p>Trust in the mainstream media has definitely been slipping.  In fact, a Gallup poll taken last year found that distrust of the media had reached an <a href="http://www.gallup.com/poll/157589/distrust-media-hits-new-high.aspx">all-time high</a>.  According to that poll, <a href="http://www.gallup.com/poll/157589/distrust-media-hits-new-high.aspx">60 percent</a> of Americans &#8220;have little or no trust&#8221; that the media is reporting the news accurately.</p>
<p>A separate Rasmussen Reports survey found that <a href="http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/general_politics/february_2013/only_6_rate_news_media_as_very_trustworthy">only 6 percent</a> of all Americans consider the news media to be &#8220;very trustworthy&#8221;.</p>
<p>Hopefully this trend will accelerate and a lot more people will stop trusting the media blindly.</p>
<p><strong>#4 The Mainstream Media And The Politicians That They Worship Hate The Fact That They Cannot Control Internet News Sites</strong></p>
<p>In the old days, the mainstream media had a virtual monopoly on the news.  But these days, anyone with an Internet connection can put up a news site, and this is driving the establishment absolutely bonkers.</p>
<p>For example, Barack Obama is known to have a great dislike for the alternative media.  The following is from a recent <a href="http://www.wnd.com/2013/04/obama-hates-internet-news-media/">WND article</a>&#8230;</p>
<blockquote><p>NBC News Political Director Chuck Todd says President Obama was making it “clear” at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner over the weekend how he feels about the rise of Internet news sites like Politico, Buzzfeed and … well, WND.</p>
<p>“He hates it.”</p>
<p>Appearing on “Meet the Press” Sunday morning following Saturday night’s media, politics and celebrity soiree, Todd explained the president’s disdain for independent online news sources was showing during his speech.</p>
<p>“It did seem … I thought his pot shots, joke-wise, and then the serious stuff about the Internet, the rise of the Internet media and social media and all that stuff – he hates it, OK? He hates this part of the media,” Todd said. “He really thinks that the, sort of, the buzzification – this isn’t just about Buzzfeed or Politico and all this stuff – he thinks that sort of coverage of political media has hurt political discourse. He hates it. And I think he was just trying to make that clear last night.”</p></blockquote>
<p><strong>#5 The Mainstream Media Is Extremely Liberal</strong></p>
<p>When it comes to politics, the mainstream media is far more liberal than the general population is.</p>
<p>For example, one survey found that <a href="http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/general_politics/february_2013/only_6_rate_news_media_as_very_trustworthy">41 percent</a> of American voters believe that the average reporter is more liberal than they are, while only <a href="http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/general_politics/february_2013/only_6_rate_news_media_as_very_trustworthy">18 percent</a> believe that the average reporter is more conservative than they are.</p>
<p>A very disturbing <a href="http://newsroom.ucla.edu/portal/ucla/Media-Bias-Is-Real-Finds-UCLA-6664.aspx">UCLA study</a> on media bias discovered that the vast majority of media outlets are &#8220;left of center&#8221;&#8230;</p>
<blockquote><p>Of the 20 major media outlets studied, 18 scored left of center, with CBS’ “Evening News,” The New York Times and the Los Angeles Times ranking second, third and fourth most liberal behind the news pages of The Wall Street Journal.</p></blockquote>
<p>And even MSNBC has confirmed the liberal bias of the media.  According to <a href="http://www.nbcnews.com/id/19113485/">MSNBC</a>, mainstream journalists are far more likely to donate their own money to Democrats than they are to Republicans&#8230;</p>
<blockquote><p>MSNBC.com identified 143 journalists who made political contributions from 2004 through the start of the 2008 campaign, according to the public records of the Federal Election Commission. Most of the newsroom checkbooks leaned to the left: 125 journalists gave to Democrats and liberal causes. Only 16 gave to Republicans. Two gave to both parties.</p></blockquote>
<p><strong>#6 Six Mammoth Media Corporations Produce About 90 Percent Of The Media That Americans Consume</strong></p>
<p>As I mentioned at the top of this article, there are six giant media behemoths that control almost all of the media that we consume.  These corporate giants own television networks, cable channels, movie studios, newspapers, magazines, publishing houses, video game makers, music labels and even many of our favorite websites.</p>
<p>The media ownership chart posted below originally comes from a previous article that I authored entitled &#8220;<a href="http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/who-owns-the-media-the-6-monolithic-corporations-that-control-almost-everything-we-watch-hear-and-read">Who Owns The Media? The 6 Monolithic Corporations That Control Almost Everything We Watch, Hear And Read</a>&#8220;, but it has been updated to reflect some of the latest information.  The power that these companies have is so vast that it is hard to put into words&#8230;</p>
<p><strong>Time Warner</strong></p>
<p>CNN<br />
Home Box Office (HBO)<br />
Time Inc.<br />
Turner Broadcasting System, Inc.<br />
Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.<br />
CW Network (partial ownership)<br />
TMZ<br />
New Line Cinema<br />
Time Warner Cable<br />
Cinemax<br />
Cartoon Network<br />
TBS<br />
TNT<br />
America Online<br />
MapQuest<br />
Moviefone<br />
Castle Rock<br />
Sports Illustrated<br />
Fortune<br />
Marie Claire<br />
DC Comics<br />
People Magazine</p>
<p><strong>Walt Disney</strong></p>
<p>ABC Television Network<br />
Disney Publishing<br />
ESPN Inc.<br />
Disney Channel<br />
The History Channel<br />
SOAPnet<br />
A&amp;E<br />
Lifetime<br />
Buena Vista Home Entertainment<br />
Buena Vista Theatrical Productions<br />
Buena Vista Records<br />
Disney Records<br />
Hollywood Records<br />
Miramax Films<br />
Touchstone Pictures<br />
Walt Disney Pictures<br />
Pixar Animation Studios<br />
277 Radio Stations<br />
Buena Vista Games<br />
Hyperion Books</p>
<p><strong>Viacom</strong></p>
<p>Paramount Pictures<br />
Paramount Home Entertainment<br />
Black Entertainment Television (BET)<br />
Comedy Central<br />
Country Music Television (CMT)<br />
Logo<br />
MTV<br />
MTV Canada<br />
MTV2<br />
Nick Magazine<br />
Nick at Nite<br />
Nick Jr.<br />
Nickelodeon<br />
Noggin<br />
Spike TV<br />
The Movie Channel<br />
TV Land<br />
VH1</p>
<p><strong>News Corporation</strong></p>
<p>Dow Jones &amp; Company, Inc.<br />
Fox Television Stations<br />
The New York Post<br />
TV Guide<br />
Fox Searchlight Pictures<br />
Beliefnet<br />
Fox Business Network<br />
Fox Kids Europe<br />
Fox News Channel<br />
Fox Sports Net<br />
Fox Television Network<br />
FX<br />
My Network TV<br />
MySpace<br />
News Limited News<br />
Phoenix InfoNews Channel<br />
Phoenix Movies Channel<br />
Sky PerfecTV<br />
Speed Channel<br />
STAR TV India<br />
STAR TV Taiwan<br />
STAR World<br />
Times Higher Education Supplement Magazine<br />
Times Literary Supplement Magazine<br />
Times of London<br />
20th Century Fox Home Entertainment<br />
20th Century Fox International<br />
20th Century Fox Studios<br />
20th Century Fox Television<br />
BSkyB<br />
The Wall Street Journal<br />
Fox Broadcasting Company<br />
Fox Interactive Media<br />
FOXTEL<br />
HarperCollins Publishers<br />
The National Geographic Channel<br />
National Rugby League<br />
News Interactive<br />
News Outdoor<br />
Radio Veronica<br />
ReganBooks<br />
Sky Italia<br />
Sky Radio Denmark<br />
Sky Radio Germany<br />
Sky Radio Netherlands<br />
STAR<br />
Zondervan</p>
<p><strong>CBS Corporation</strong></p>
<p>CBS News<br />
CBS Sports<br />
CBS Television Network<br />
CNET<br />
Showtime<br />
TV.com<br />
CBS Radio Inc. (130 stations)<br />
CBS Consumer Products<br />
CBS Outdoor<br />
CW Network (50% ownership)<br />
Infinity Broadcasting<br />
Simon &amp; Schuster (Pocket Books, Scribner)<br />
Westwood One Radio Network</p>
<p><strong>Comcast</strong></p>
<p>NBC<br />
Bravo<br />
CNBC<br />
NBC News<br />
MSNBC<br />
NBC Sports<br />
NBC Television Network<br />
Oxygen<br />
SciFi Magazine<br />
Syfy (Sci Fi Channel)<br />
Telemundo<br />
USA Network<br />
Weather Channel<br />
Focus Features<br />
NBC Universal Television Distribution<br />
NBC Universal Television Studio<br />
Paxson Communications (partial ownership)<br />
Hulu<br />
Universal Parks &amp; Resorts<br />
Universal Pictures<br />
Universal Studio Home Video</p>
<p><strong>#7 The American People Are Absolutely Addicted To The Mainstream Media</strong></p>
<p>In <a href="http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/who-tells-us-what-to-think-does-the-mainstream-media-the-matrix">a previous article about the media</a>, I noted that the average American watches <a title="153 hours" href="http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/online_mobile/americans-watching-more-tv-than-ever/" target="_blank">153 hours</a> of television a month.</p>
<p>When you allow that much information to be downloaded into your brain, it is going to have a dramatic impact on how you think.</p>
<p>Americans are more &#8220;connected&#8221; than they ever have been before.  This is especially true of our kids.  They are constantly on one sort of electronic device or another.  The following is a brief excerpt from a recent article <a title="by Daniel Taylor" href="http://www.oldthinkernews.com/2013/02/pulled-matrix-before/" target="_blank">by Daniel Taylor</a>&#8230;</p>
<blockquote><p>According to <a title="a 2010 LA Times report" href="http://articles.latimes.com/2010/jan/20/business/la-fi-youth-media21-2010jan21" target="_blank">a 2010 LA Times report</a>, young people spend on average 53 hours a week watching TV, playing video games, and sitting at the computer.</p>
<p><a title="Facebook users spend" href="http://www.jeffbullas.com/2011/09/02/20-stunning-social-media-statistics/" target="_blank">Facebook users spend</a> about 15 hours a month on the social networking site.</p>
<p>People are walking – and driving – blindly while texting, sometimes <a title="walking into fountains " href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPW8xmI4w6U" target="_blank">walking into fountains </a>and even <a title="falling off cliffs. " href="http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/woman-falls-off-cliff-while-texting/" target="_blank">falling off cliffs. </a></p></blockquote>
<p>If that Los Angeles Times report is true, that means that our young people are spending more than 200 hours a month connected to the media.</p>
<p>But we are only awake for about 480 hours a month.</p>
<p>When it comes to influencing the American people, nobody has more power than the big media companies do.</p>
<p>And until we can break this sick addiction to the mainstream media and get people to start thinking for themselves, we will never see widespread changes in our society.  As long as people are being &#8220;programmed&#8221; by the mainstream media, they will continue to express the opinions, attitudes and beliefs that have been downloaded into their minds.</p>
<p>Please share this article with as many people as you can.  It is crucial that we wake as many people up as possible while we still can.</p>
<p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/7-things-about-the-mainstream-media-that-they-do-not-want-you-to-know">7 Things About The Mainstream Media That They Do Not Want You To Know</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com">The Economic Collapse</a>.</p>
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		<title>Who Tells Us What To Think? Does The Mainstream Media = The Matrix?</title>
		<link>http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/who-tells-us-what-to-think-does-the-mainstream-media-the-matrix</link>
		<comments>http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/who-tells-us-what-to-think-does-the-mainstream-media-the-matrix#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 15 Feb 2013 00:11:18 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Michael Snyder]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Addicted]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Beliefs]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Believe]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Books]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Corporations]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Entertainment]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Information]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mainstream Media]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Media]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Media Corporations]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Movies]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[News]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Opinions]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Reality]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Television]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[The Average American]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[The Internet]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[The Matrix]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[The Red Pill]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Think For Yourself]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/?p=5270</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[<p>Do you believe that you really think for yourself?  Did you come up with your attitudes, opinions and beliefs on your own, or are they continually being shaped and molded by someone else?  Could it be possible that you and everyone around you is actually hooked into a real life version of &#8220;the matrix&#8221; that [...]</p>
<p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/who-tells-us-what-to-think-does-the-mainstream-media-the-matrix">Who Tells Us What To Think? Does The Mainstream Media = The Matrix?</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com">The Economic Collapse</a>.</p>
]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/who-tells-us-what-to-think-does-the-mainstream-media-the-matrix/who-tells-us-what-to-think-does-the-mainstream-media-the-matrix-photo-by-properpilot" rel="attachment wp-att-5271"><img class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-5271" alt="Who Tells Us What To Think? Does The Mainstream Media = The Matrix? - Photo by Properpilot" src="http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Who-Tells-Us-What-To-Think-Does-The-Mainstream-Media-The-Matrix-Photo-by-Properpilot-300x225.jpg" width="300" height="225" /></a>Do you believe that you really think for yourself?  Did you come up with your attitudes, opinions and beliefs on your own, or are they continually being shaped and molded by someone else?  Could it be possible that you and everyone around you is actually hooked into a real life version of &#8220;the matrix&#8221; that is constantly defining your reality for you?  Sadly, the truth is that almost all of us have willingly hooked ourselves into a colossal media system that literally tells us what to think.  In the United States today, the average American watches <a title="153 hours" href="http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/online_mobile/americans-watching-more-tv-than-ever/" target="_blank">153 hours</a> of television a month.  We also spend huge amounts of time watching movies, surfing the Internet, reading books and magazines, playing video games and listening to music.  Many Americans are so addicted to being &#8220;connected&#8221; that they will actually become physically uncomfortable if they are at home and there is total silence.  Unfortunately, as I pointed out in a <a href="http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/who-owns-the-media-the-6-monolithic-corporations-that-control-almost-everything-we-watch-hear-and-read">previous article</a>, somewhere around 90 percent of the &#8220;information&#8221; that we are allowing to be endlessly pumped into our heads is owned by just 6 gigantic media corporations.  So could it be possible that the thousands of hours of &#8220;news and entertainment&#8221; that you are allowing these gigantic corporations to fill your head with each year is having an effect on you?  Does the mainstream media have more control over you than you ever dreamed possible?  If you want to continue on in blissful ignorance, stop reading now,  but if you want to take &#8220;the red pill&#8221;, keep on reading because the further down the rabbit hole you go, the stranger that things get.</p>
<p>When you go to work or to school in the morning, what is everyone talking about?</p>
<p>Usually, people are talking about something that they saw on television or that they heard about in the news.</p>
<p>In our society today, the limited interactions that we do have with other people are usually defined by our mutual connection to the media.</p>
<p>The mainstream media literally defines for us what is important and what is not.  If the mainstream media does not talk about something, then it simply does not matter.</p>
<p>I don&#8217;t know how many times over the years I have heard someone tell me some version of the following statement: &#8220;If that was true we would have heard about it on the news.&#8221;</p>
<p>Has anyone ever said something similar to you?</p>
<p>The funny thing is that most of the time I won&#8217;t even mention something important that I may have heard in one of my articles unless I can back it up with a &#8220;mainstream source&#8221;, and I don&#8217;t even trust the mainstream media.</p>
<p>I know that the mainstream media often distorts the facts and often tells outright lies, but I regularly link to them because that gives my articles more &#8220;credibility&#8221; in the eyes of those that are still fully hooked into the matrix.</p>
<p>In a world where the big media corporations have so much power, is there any hope for us?</p>
<p>As long as the big corporations that control the media are dominating and controlling the conversation, is there any chance that there will ever be a mass awakening among the American people?</p>
<p>Our young people seem particularly addicted to being constantly &#8220;connected&#8221; to the media matrix that is being constructed all around us.  The following is a brief excerpt from a recent article <a href="http://www.oldthinkernews.com/2013/02/pulled-matrix-before/">by Daniel Taylor</a>&#8230;</p>
<blockquote><p>According to <a href="http://articles.latimes.com/2010/jan/20/business/la-fi-youth-media21-2010jan21">a 2010 LA Times report</a>, young people spend on average 53 hours a week watching TV, playing video games, and sitting at the computer.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.jeffbullas.com/2011/09/02/20-stunning-social-media-statistics/">Facebook users spend</a> about 15 hours a month on the social networking site.</p>
<p>People are walking – and driving – blindly while texting, sometimes <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPW8xmI4w6U">walking into fountains </a>and even <a href="http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/woman-falls-off-cliff-while-texting/">falling off cliffs. </a></p></blockquote>
<p>Wow &#8211; our young people spend more than 200 hours a month connected to the mainstream media?</p>
<p>But we only have about 480 waking hours a month to work with.</p>
<p>If they are being exposed to that amount of continuous propaganda, what hope do our young people have?</p>
<p>In the old days, kids actually played with each other in the streets and adults actually left their homes to interact with one another.</p>
<p>But these days we spend nearly all of our time sitting passively in our homes staring at flickering screens.</p>
<p>Is that a sign of a healthy society?</p>
<p>We were created to be social creatures.  We were designed to love and to be loved.  But these days people &#8220;love&#8221; their favorite sports teams or they &#8220;love&#8221; their favorite television shows but we have an increasingly difficult time having real relationships with each other.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, the <a href="http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/who-runs-the-world-solid-proof-that-a-core-group-of-wealthy-elitists-is-pulling-the-strings">global elite</a> rely on the mainstream media to keep us distracted and to control the boundaries of public discourse.  Most of the time, the mainstream media focuses on the latest celebrity scandal or the latest dogfights between the Republicans and the Democrats and they systematically ignore many of the more important things that are taking place out there.</p>
<p>Let me just give you one example of how the mainstream media shapes the news.  For decades, there was almost a complete and total media blackout on <a href="http://endoftheamericandream.com/archives/why-does-the-mainstream-media-ignore-the-bilderberg-group">the Bilderberg Group</a> meetings that happen every year.  Top newspaper executives from the United States would actually attend these meetings, but then their newspapers would not say a single word about them.</p>
<p>If anyone out there did bring up &#8220;the Bilderberg Group&#8221;, they were dismissed as wacky &#8220;conspiracy theorists&#8221; and were told that it simply does not exist.</p>
<p>Of course now we all know that it does exist, although the mainstream media in the U.S. still mostly ignores it.  In fact, this has been by design.  The following is what David Rockefeller <a href="http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/David_Rockefeller#Disputed">is alleged to have said</a> during a Bilderberg Group meeting back in 1991&#8230;</p>
<blockquote><p>We are grateful to <i>The Washington Post</i>, <i>The New York Times</i>, <i>Time</i> magazine and other great publications whose directors have attended our meetings and respected their promises of discretion for almost forty years. … It would have been impossible for us to develop our plan for the world if we had been subject to the bright lights of publicity during those years. But, the world is now much more sophisticated and prepared to march towards a world government. The supranational sovereignty of an intellectual elite and world bankers is surely preferable to the national auto-determination practiced in past centuries.</p></blockquote>
<p>Even today, many prominent &#8220;journalists&#8221; in the U.S. mock people when they bring up the Bilderberg Group.  For example, <a href="http://open.salon.com/blog/ghost_writer_1/2012/05/31/why_does_the_mainstream_media_ignore_the_bilderberg_group">Lawrence O&#8217;Donnell</a> of MSNBC says that he is &#8220;way too lazy&#8221; to look into the Bilderberg Group and that he &#8220;doesn&#8217;t know about it, so it must not exist&#8221;.</p>
<p>For much more on the connection between the mainstream media and the global elite, please see this article: &#8220;<a href="http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/who-runs-the-world-solid-proof-that-a-core-group-of-wealthy-elitists-is-pulling-the-strings">Who Runs The World? Solid Proof That A Core Group Of Wealthy Elitists Is Pulling The Strings</a>&#8220;.</p>
<p>Instead of telling us what is really going on in the world, the mainstream media keeps us endlessly distracted.  The following are just a few of the headlines that can be found on the front pages of major mainstream news sites right now&#8230;</p>
<p>&#8211;<a href="http://www.foxnews.com/health/2013/02/14/college-student-creates-condom-delivery-service-to-promote-safe-sex/?test=latestnews">College student creates condom delivery service</a></p>
<p>&#8211;<a href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/people/2013/02/14/douglas-cancer-check-up/1920397/">Michael Douglas is feeling &#8216;good&#8217;</a></p>
<p>&#8211;<a href="http://www.cnn.com/">Golf tournament delayed by kangaroos</a></p>
<p>&#8211;<a href="http://www.cnn.com/video/?hpt=hp_t3#/video/us/2013/02/13/aj-american-journey-mixed-up-food-truck.hln">Rock &#8216;n&#8217; roll hamburger experience</a></p>
<p>&#8211;<a href="http://video.today.msnbc.msn.com/today/50808775/#50808775">Lady Gaga cancels tour, set for surgery</a></p>
<p>Wow &#8211; those are some examples of some really hard-hitting journalism right there.</p>
<p>So why do most Americans continue to fall for this nonsense?</p>
<p>Sadly, part of the reason is because we have become so &#8220;dumbed down&#8221; as a society.</p>
<p>Recently, the Guardian conducted an evaluation of the reading level of every State of the Union address in U.S. history.  <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/interactive/2013/feb/12/state-of-the-union-reading-level">What they found</a> is that Barack Obama&#8217;s State of the Union addresses have had the second lowest reading level average in history, and that in general the reading levels of the speeches have been significantly declining over time.</p>
<p>But it is not just our presidents that appear to be getting stupider.  The truth is that our public education system is a total joke at this point.  Many of our high school students are as <a href="http://endoftheamericandream.com/archives/dumb-as-a-rock-you-will-be-absolutely-amazed-at-the-things-that-u-s-high-school-students-do-not-know">dumb as a rock</a>, and if you can believe it, <a href="http://www.prisonplanet.com/23-of-america-is-illiterate.html">23 percent</a> of all Americans cannot even read beyond a fourth-grade level.</p>
<p>Of course the elite are quite pleased with this, because a stupid public is a public that is easier to dominate.</p>
<p>When a large segment of the population can barely read and is accustomed to letting others do their thinking for them, it becomes easier to lie.</p>
<p>For example, on Thursday Paul Krugman of the New York Times <a href="http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/02/14/the-kids-are-alright/?smid=tw-NytimesKrugman&amp;seid=auto">made the following statement</a>&#8230;</p>
<blockquote><p>&#8220;Growing dependence on government is mostly a myth&#8221;</p></blockquote>
<p>Of course most of you that are reading this know that is a flat-out lie.  The charts <a href="http://www.economicpolicyjournal.com/2013/02/krugman-growing-dependence-on.html">in this article</a> clearly show that the number of Americans on food stamps is at an all-time high and the percentage of the population that is on food stamps is at an all-time high.</p>
<p>Back in 1983, <a href="http://news.investors.com/business/012612-598993-entitlements-soar-under-president-obama.htm">less than a third</a> of all Americans lived in a household that got money from the federal government each month,  Now, an all-time high <a href="http://news.investors.com/business/012612-598993-entitlements-soar-under-president-obama.htm">49 percent</a> of all Americans live in a home where at least one person receives money from the government each month.</p>
<p>For many more stats and charts that demonstrate the stunning growth of government dependence, please see <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/charts-rise-of-government-dependence-2012-9?op=1">this article</a> and <a href="http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/show-this-to-anyone-that-believes-that-things-are-getting-better-in-america">this article</a>.</p>
<p>Sadly, the truth doesn&#8217;t seem to matter too much to the media these days.  The mainstream media tends to be incredibly arrogant, and most of the time they don&#8217;t even pretend to be &#8220;objective&#8221; or &#8220;neutral&#8221; anymore.</p>
<p>Fortunately, more Americans than ever are becoming dissatisfied with the mainstream media and are starting to seek out alternative sources of information.  According to a recent Gallup poll, the level of trust that the American public has in the mainstream media is now <a href="http://www.gallup.com/poll/157589/distrust-media-hits-new-high.aspx">at an all-time low</a>.</p>
<p>So perhaps there is hope after all.</p>
<p>What do you think?</p>
<p><a href="http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/who-tells-us-what-to-think-does-the-mainstream-media-the-matrix/the-matrix-photo-by-jamie-zawinski" rel="attachment wp-att-5272"><img class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-5272" alt="The Matrix - Photo by Jamie Zawinski" src="http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/The-Matrix-Photo-by-Jamie-Zawinski-425x380.png" width="425" height="380" /></a></p>
<p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/who-tells-us-what-to-think-does-the-mainstream-media-the-matrix">Who Tells Us What To Think? Does The Mainstream Media = The Matrix?</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com">The Economic Collapse</a>.</p>
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		<title>Who Owns The Media? The 6 Monolithic Corporations That Control Almost Everything We Watch, Hear And Read</title>
		<link>http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/who-owns-the-media-the-6-monolithic-corporations-that-control-almost-everything-we-watch-hear-and-read</link>
		<comments>http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/who-owns-the-media-the-6-monolithic-corporations-that-control-almost-everything-we-watch-hear-and-read#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 04 Oct 2010 03:53:23 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Michael Snyder]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Advertising]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Debt]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Debts]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Entertainment]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Magazines]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Media Ownership]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Movies]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[News]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Television]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/?p=1165</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[<p>Back in 1983, approximately 50 corporations controlled the vast majority of all news media in the United States.  Today, ownership of the news media has been concentrated in the hands of just six incredibly powerful media corporations.  These corporate behemoths control most of what we watch, hear and read every single day.  They own television networks, cable channels, movie studios, [...]</p>
<p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/who-owns-the-media-the-6-monolithic-corporations-that-control-almost-everything-we-watch-hear-and-read">Who Owns The Media? The 6 Monolithic Corporations That Control Almost Everything We Watch, Hear And Read</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com">The Economic Collapse</a>.</p>
]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a rel="attachment wp-att-1166" href="http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/who-owns-the-media-the-6-monolithic-corporations-that-control-almost-everything-we-watch-hear-and-read/who-owns-the-media"><img class="alignleft size-thumbnail wp-image-1166" title="Who Owns The Media" src="http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/Who-Owns-The-Media-200x133.jpg" alt="" width="200" height="133" /></a>Back in 1983, approximately <a href="http://www.corporations.org/media/">50 corporations</a> controlled the vast majority of all news media in the United States.  Today, ownership of the news media has been concentrated in the hands of just six incredibly powerful media corporations.  These corporate behemoths control most of what we watch, hear and read every single day.  They own television networks, cable channels, movie studios, newspapers, magazines, publishing houses, music labels and even many of our favorite websites. Sadly, most Americans don&#8217;t even stop to think about who is feeding them the endless hours of news and entertainment that they constantly ingest.  Most Americans don&#8217;t really seem to care about who owns the media.  But they should.  The truth is that each of us is <strong>deeply</strong> influenced by the messages that are constantly being pounded into our heads by the mainstream media.  The average American watches <a href="http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/online_mobile/americans-watching-more-tv-than-ever/">153 hours</a> of television a month.  In fact, most Americans begin to feel physically uncomfortable if they go too long without watching or listening to something.  Sadly, most Americans have become absolutely addicted to news and entertainment and the ownership of all that news and entertainment that we crave is being concentrated in fewer and fewer hands each year.      </p>
<p>The six corporations that collectively control U.S. media today are Time Warner, Walt Disney, Viacom, Rupert Murdoch&#8217;s News Corp., CBS Corporation and NBC Universal.  Together, the &#8220;big six&#8221; absolutely dominate news and entertainment in the United States.  But even those areas of the media that the &#8220;big six&#8221; do not completely control are becoming increasingly concentrated. For example, Clear Channel now owns over 1000 radio stations across the United States.  Companies like Google, Yahoo and Microsoft are increasingly dominating the Internet.</p>
<p>But it is the &#8220;big six&#8221; that are the biggest concerns.  When you control what Americans watch, hear and read you gain a great deal of control over what they think.  They don&#8217;t call it &#8220;programming&#8221; for nothing. </p>
<p>Back in 1983 it was bad enough that about 50 corporations dominated U.S. media.  But since that time, power over the media has rapidly become concentrated in the hands of fewer and fewer people&#8230;.</p>
<p><em>In 1983, fifty corporations dominated most of every mass medium and the biggest media merger in history was a $340 million deal. … [I]n 1987, the fifty companies had shrunk to twenty-nine. … [I]n 1990, the twenty-nine had shrunk to twenty three. … [I]n 1997, the biggest firms numbered ten and involved the $19 billion Disney-ABC deal, at the time the biggest media merger ever. … [In 2000] AOL Time Warner’s $350 billion merged corporation [was] more than 1,000 times larger [than the biggest deal of 1983].</em></p>
<p>&#8211;Ben H. Bagdikian, The Media Monopoly, Sixth Edition, (Beacon Press, 2000), pp. xx—xxi</p>
<p>Today, six colossal media giants tower over all the rest.  Much of the information in the chart below comes from <a href="http://www.mediaowners.com/company/cbscorporation.html">mediaowners.com</a>.  The chart below reveals only a small fraction of the media outlets that these six behemoths actually own&#8230;.</p>
<p><strong>Time Warner</strong></p>
<p>Home Box Office (HBO)<br />
Time Inc.<br />
Turner Broadcasting System, Inc.<br />
Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.<br />
CW Network (partial ownership)<br />
TMZ<br />
New Line Cinema<br />
Time Warner Cable<br />
Cinemax<br />
Cartoon Network<br />
TBS<br />
TNT<br />
America Online<br />
MapQuest<br />
Moviefone<br />
Castle Rock<br />
Sports Illustrated<br />
Fortune<br />
Marie Claire<br />
People Magazine</p>
<p><strong>Walt Disney</strong></p>
<p>ABC Television Network<br />
Disney Publishing<br />
ESPN Inc.<br />
Disney Channel<br />
SOAPnet<br />
A&amp;E<br />
Lifetime<br />
Buena Vista Home Entertainment<br />
Buena Vista Theatrical Productions<br />
Buena Vista Records<br />
Disney Records<br />
Hollywood Records<br />
Miramax Films<br />
Touchstone Pictures<br />
Walt Disney Pictures<br />
Pixar Animation Studios<br />
Buena Vista Games<br />
Hyperion Books</p>
<p><strong>Viacom</strong></p>
<p>Paramount Pictures<br />
Paramount Home Entertainment<br />
Black Entertainment Television (BET)<br />
Comedy Central<br />
Country Music Television (CMT)<br />
Logo<br />
MTV<br />
MTV Canada<br />
MTV2<br />
Nick Magazine<br />
Nick at Nite<br />
Nick Jr.<br />
Nickelodeon<br />
Noggin<br />
Spike TV<br />
The Movie Channel<br />
TV Land<br />
VH1</p>
<p><strong>News Corporation</strong></p>
<p>Dow Jones &amp; Company, Inc.<br />
Fox Television Stations<br />
The New York Post<br />
Fox Searchlight Pictures<br />
Beliefnet<br />
Fox Business Network<br />
Fox Kids Europe<br />
Fox News Channel<br />
Fox Sports Net<br />
Fox Television Network<br />
FX<br />
My Network TV<br />
MySpace<br />
News Limited News<br />
Phoenix InfoNews Channel<br />
Phoenix Movies Channel<br />
Sky PerfecTV<br />
Speed Channel<br />
STAR TV India<br />
STAR TV Taiwan<br />
STAR World<br />
Times Higher Education Supplement Magazine<br />
Times Literary Supplement Magazine<br />
Times of London<br />
20th Century Fox Home Entertainment<br />
20th Century Fox International<br />
20th Century Fox Studios<br />
20th Century Fox Television<br />
BSkyB<br />
DIRECTV<br />
The Wall Street Journal<br />
Fox Broadcasting Company<br />
Fox Interactive Media<br />
FOXTEL<br />
HarperCollins Publishers<br />
The National Geographic Channel<br />
National Rugby League<br />
News Interactive<br />
News Outdoor<br />
Radio Veronica<br />
ReganBooks<br />
Sky Italia<br />
Sky Radio Denmark<br />
Sky Radio Germany<br />
Sky Radio Netherlands<br />
STAR<br />
Zondervan</p>
<p><strong>CBS Corporation</strong></p>
<p>CBS News<br />
CBS Sports<br />
CBS Television Network<br />
CNET<br />
Showtime<br />
TV.com<br />
CBS Radio Inc. (130 stations)<br />
CBS Consumer Products<br />
CBS Outdoor<br />
CW Network (50% ownership)<br />
Infinity Broadcasting<br />
Simon &amp; Schuster (Pocket Books, Scribner)<br />
Westwood One Radio Network</p>
<p><strong>NBC Universal</strong></p>
<p>Bravo<br />
CNBC<br />
NBC News<br />
MSNBC<br />
NBC Sports<br />
NBC Television Network<br />
Oxygen<br />
SciFi Magazine<br />
Syfy (Sci Fi Channel)<br />
Telemundo<br />
USA Network<br />
Weather Channel<br />
Focus Features<br />
NBC Universal Television Distribution<br />
NBC Universal Television Studio<br />
Paxson Communications (partial ownership)<br />
Trio<br />
Universal Parks &amp; Resorts<br />
Universal Pictures<br />
Universal Studio Home Video</p>
<p>These gigantic media corporations do not exist to objectively tell the truth to the American people.  Rather, the primary purpose of their existence is to make money.</p>
<p>These gigantic media corporations are not going to do anything to threaten their relationships with their biggest advertisers (such as the largest pharmaceutical companies that literally spend billions on advertising), and one way or another these gigantic media corporations are always going to express the ideological viewpoints of their owners.</p>
<p>Fortunately, an increasing number of Americans are starting to wake up and are realizing that the mainstream media should not be trusted.  <a href="http://www.gallup.com/poll/143267/Distrust-Media-Edges-Record-High.aspx">According to a new poll just released by Gallup</a>, the number of Americans that have little to no trust in the mainstream media (57%) is at an all-time high.</p>
<p>That is one reason why we have seen the alternative media experience such rapid growth over the past few years.  The mainstream media has been losing credibility at a staggering rate, and Americans are starting to look elsewhere for the truth about what is really going on.</p>
<p>Do you think that anyone in the mainstream news would actually tell you that <a href="http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/11-reasons-why-the-federal-reserve-is-bad">the Federal Reserve is bad for America</a> or that we are facing a horrific <a href="http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/the-horrific-derivatives-bubble-that-could-one-day-destroy-the-entire-world-financial-system">derivatives bubble</a> that could destroy the entire world financial system?  Do you think that anyone in the mainstream media would actually tell you the truth about the <a href="http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/19-facts-about-the-deindustrialization-of-america-that-will-blow-your-mind">deindustrialization of America</a> or the truth about <a href="http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/how-goldman-sachs-made-tens-of-billions-of-dollars-from-the-economic-collapse-of-america-in-four-easy-steps">the voracious greed of Goldman Sachs</a>?</p>
<p>Sure there are a few courageous reporters in the mainstream media that manage to slip a few stories past their corporate bosses from time to time, but in general there is a very clear understanding that there are simply certain things that you just do not say in the mainstream news.</p>
<p>But Americans are becoming increasingly hungry for the truth, and they are becoming increasingly dissatisfied with the dumbed down pablum that is passing as &#8220;hard hitting news&#8221; these days.</p>
<p>So what do you think about the state of the mainstream media?  Please feel free to leave a comment with your opinion below&#8230;.</p>
<p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/who-owns-the-media-the-6-monolithic-corporations-that-control-almost-everything-we-watch-hear-and-read">Who Owns The Media? The 6 Monolithic Corporations That Control Almost Everything We Watch, Hear And Read</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com">The Economic Collapse</a>.</p>
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